St Lucia 15

Lieve vriendjes and vriendinnetjes,

Did you have a merry Christmas? I think, know with a surety, that this last Christmas has been the most exciting Christmas of my entire life. Christmas eve we were all (misisonaries) together in the church to watch our christmas movie and about 5minutes into the movie the rain came down. And it never stopped. Pouring rain with tons of lighting and thunder. The senior couple came in about halve way through the movie and told me that the weather was out of control!! So we stopped the movie and decided to try to get back to our appartment! So we split up and took other missionaries as well to get home. But boy the weather was bad! We said a prayer and went out. As missionaries you have to stand outside of the car to back your companion out. And I must obey so I did that. Water was just coming down the hill like a river. The water reached till my ankles and it was coming down the hill (this computer doesn't let me send pictures so that will come next week). After a little while driving we made a turn but because of the water the car just drifted straight! And we ended up in a gutter... Car was tillted side ways in about a 45 degrees angle. I think I never got out of the car as fast as I did that night. So we were standing their hoping that a car would pass by to pull us out. Didn't happen.. So we went back to church walking to just water as deep as you ankles flowing down to the beach. It was quite the adventure. Spend the night under the church (we have a missionary appartment under the church). Next morning all the water was gone and look like nothing happened... Later we found out that the southern part of the island just got destroyed. 6 people lost their life, houses were washed away and just defestation. As result of the storm we also didn't have any water till this morning. We had a water tank but that thing ran out after a few days. Glad that we have a emergency supply of water so enough drinking water. But no water to flush toilet, do dishes or take a proper shower. Felt a little bit like we were surviving. 
But the work most go on and we had an amazing week! We found a amazing Trinidadian family who you can feel are prepared by the Lord. The Spirit of God touches them when we teach them. Also a 21 year old investigator we have is preparing to be baptist on the 11th of January! The work is just wonderful. All you ever have to do in your life is obey. When you are obedient to the terms that God has set for our happiness. You gain happiness. It's like a law of physics. If you drop your pen it will fall to the ground, If you obey God you will feel happiness. Immediately. For we can read in Mosiah 2:24 "He doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you". I can testify with all my heart that this is true, for I experience it. Go try it, and if you do I can promises you in the name of the Lord that happiness and peace will come your way.

Love,
Elder Thomas Bechan

PS. Thanks everybody for the beautiful christmas presents! I got a few packages and  letters and it's the best thank you very much!
PPS. I got my transfer call I'm staying in St. Lucia and will have a new companion: Elder Glade. I will train him to be a zone-leader! 

St Lucia 14

Rizaria Got Baptist!!‏

Lieve vriendjes and vriendinnetjes!

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope all of you will have a great Christmas this year. My week was good but kind of slow. Every single soul on St Lucia is preparing for the Christmas season. And by preparing I mean buying liquor and picking a party to go to. It amazes me how different Christmas is being celebrated by the general peoples. Kind of set that they miss out on the meaning of Christmas by doing so. For with Christmas we remember Christ. But honestly how do you do that? There are a lot of different ways to do that but a good one is just to be nice. In remembering Christ we should be striving to be like Him. As members of the church we have promised to take upon the name of Jesus Christ and to follow him in what we do. "For he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. "Wherefore, my beloved friends, can we follow Jesus, save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?" Just be nice, aim to be like the greatest man who ever lived.
Have a wonderful time everybody!

Love,
Elder Thomas Bechan

St Lucia 13

• me + President Mehr‏

Vriendjes and vriendinnetjes

Deze week was belachelijk and geweldig te gelijke tijd! 

Belachelijk awesome is what I mean by that. On Wedsnesday I flew into Trinidad for missionleadership council. President Mehr flew in all the zone-leaders in the mission. It was a spiritual feast. On Thursday we had an entire day of instruction and spiritual experiences. It truly was amazing. Then the week ended perfectly! Rizaria got baptized!!! Baptisms are amazing. It is a beautiful simple act that gives a person so much more happiness. The gospel is the best, simple and powerful. All you have to do is obey. Obedience is the first law, everything starts with that. That how simple it is, just obey and your happy. I experience that every single day. Obedience brings forth blessings, exact obedience brings miracles.

Love,

Elder Thomas Bechan

• Dutch buddies‏

• missionleader council‏

St Lucia 12

Lieve vriendjes en vriendinnetjes,

Week was good. It is amazing to see that people when they keep commitments are being changed by the Holy Ghost. Not a lot of time so I'll just share a short experience. We were teaching a lady about the Book of Mormon and she didn't really got it at first. But then at one moment her eyes opened. I could tell by her entire countance that she understood what we were saying. The Spirit of God revealed a truth to her Spirit. You can tell when somebody understands with their mind and when they do with their heart. It is beautiful to know that God grants us these experiences, so that we can learn and become more like him. For we need to realize that we are unable to learn anything good by ourself. All have is what we have received. If we really want to be able to do something or know something, we need to turn to divine guidance. God can enlighten our minds and make us capable of reaching further than we ever could by ourself. I want to invite everybody to read the sacrament prayer and to memorize it. Why would I want you to do it? For this prayer explains the covenant that we make and the promise God gives to us. When we truly want to learn and develop ourselves to be able to abide in Celestial law, we need to realize that this can only come with God's help. Exaltion is a gift. The sacrament prayer shows us that by the Holy Ghost we can be sanctified. This is what will make us able to become like our Father in Heaven. We can't do it on our own

Till next week, 

Love,
Elder Thomas Bechan

St Lucia 11

• P-day @ beach‏

Lieve vriendjes and vriendinnetjes,

This week was amazing. Lots of great stuff happened, but because of lack of time I'll just share one experience. Yesterday for the first time in my life I have experience a "burning of the bosom". People always talk about that that burning heart when the Holy Ghost testifies. But to me that never really occurred before. I have felt the Spirit of God testifying to me before, mostly trough peaceful and joyful feelings. By touching my heart with a still clam feeling. But yesterday it was amazing. We were teaching a man that was searching for something more in his life. The Spirit just filled the room when we told the story of Joseph Smith. It was filled to the roof. Everything inside of my body just felt warm and wonderful. It felt like the feeling inside was to big for me, like it wouldn't fit. It was a constant pressure on my chest but in a positive way. I think that's the best way I can describe it.. I know that those feelings can only come from God. Therefore I knew what I was testifying about, Joseph Smith and this church, was pleasing to God. I learned that the Spirit tells you things in different ways, but you will know that it comes from God. So did this investigator, after saying a prayer on his knees he excepted to be baptist!!
Dear peoples, God loves you. He wants you to be happy, so He sends you His holy Ghost to show you how you can achieve that!

Love,
Elder Thomas Bechan

St Lucia 10

• We went Zipp-Lining!!‏

  
  
  Lieve vriendjes en vriendinnetjes,
  
  This week was amazing! Robert got baptist!!!! This man truly is wonderful. Heb de Heer zo sterk gevoeld deze week en i kweet precies hoe dat komt. Ik heb zo hard gewerkt deze week. Gave it my all you can say! Ik wil graag een ervaring van een investigator delen.
  Yesterday Robert got confirmed as member of the Church and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. One of our investigators was also present during the confirmation. and she described it like this: "So I had no idea what was happening. All of you got up and then the baptist guy sat down on a chair and then you all put your hands on his head and said a blessing or something. I have no idea what just happened. But I could see on that guys face that, whatever may have happened, was real. The joy his face expressed the pure happiness is something you cannot fake. That blessing was real. And that relieve, that joy I want to have that. I want to feel what he feels".
  Lieve mensen, The Lord lives and his Church is true. Sometimes people have no idea what's going on but always and by that I mean always the Spirit testifies if something is true. The power of a ordinance, when performed by the authority of god, is something you can not deny. I have felt in my own life when I got baptist. No feeling has ever given me more peace and calmness then what I experienced right after my baptism. I cannot deny that that feeling came from God. The blessings that I have in my life now only come from God and are a result of that decision of becoming baptist. It gives a new and deeper dimension to happiness. In the name of Jesus Christ I promise that every willing soul can feel the joy I feel, the joy Robert feels, and that glimpse of joy the investigator feels.
  
  Have a good week everybody!
  The Lord lives,
  Elder Thomas Bechan

  
  

  
  

  • baptism of Robert‏

  
  

  

  

  

  

  
  

St Lucia 9

Lieve vriendjes and vriendinnetjes,

Tijd is weer eens kort, maar met mij gaat het geweldig. This week has been amazing. We hadden zone conferentie met President Mehr and it was great. As a result op een of andere manier heb ik sterk sterk the Geest gevoeld deze week. Hoe ik mijn onderzoekers kan helpen. Heb revelation ontvangen. It's awesome. Het is geweldig om te voelen als God jou gebruikt om zijn doel te bereiken. Een ieder die lid is van de kerk heeft het rechtop constante gezelschap van de Heilige Geest. Of ook wel constant revelation from God. Ask for help in your life, God will give it to you. But you first got to ask him. 

Well.. Talk to you next week!

Love,
Elder Thomas Bechan